(2) 20 YEARS OF LEARNING IN & FROM CHINA
M A Y B E ... i am the only “wine man” in the world working in China on the wine making side and outside China to market Chinese wines, since 20 years ( I am pretty sure that is the case ). It certainly prepared me for the “Changyu-Lenz 2.0” new chapter, starting in 2015. SOME of the learnings I gladly share :
***SPEED: this is something truly exciting – once a decision is made in China, they just do it ( sometimes at the speed of light ). Think of it: “making wines in the company of the world’s finest” was the vision in 2015 – we from the chateau in Ningxia can tick that box merely 10 years later ( and there is not just the wines from www.changyu-moser-xv.com there is other too, top wines from Ningixa such as Crazy Fang, Jiabeilan, Silver Heights and of course the top French Chinese Longdai in Shandong ( hashtag#chateau Lafite Rothschild ) and Aoyun in Shangrila ( hashtag#LVMH ). And, let me pair SPEED with AMBITION, which is the driving force behind all this ( compare Europe ?)
***RESPECT: this is the currency to trade in first place. And quite frankly, China does deserve respect for their entire history of 4-5.000 years, yet in my eyes particularly for the past 50 years – and you know what I mean. China has built its wealth completely on its own. And quite frankly, a country where 1,4 bn. Chinese speak this ( difficult to learn ) language and use the same ( super difficult to learn ) writing for more than 3.000 years ( I failed learning it 3 times ...), deserves all the respect tin the world. Call me traditional, however, I like this form of dealing with each other.
***BUSINESS IS MARTIAL ARTS: a friend and former China afficionado ( Siemens manager ) told me once “in order to survive in China you better understand how business is done here”. Martial arts describes it the best , in a good way. Chinese people are peaceful and wish to live in harmony with the rest of the world. But, when it comes to business, the tough gets going.
***FIDELITY: this is special form of loyalty which I have rarely experienced. As tough at it is sometimes the one constant “thing” is fidelity, which grows over the years – as long as you always give your best in the relationship and show respect for your counterpart. An example is chateau Lafite Rothschild is the “gold standard” in China for any wine – it is THE wine per se ( if it is important, private and business it has to be Lafite ). And the best explanation why this is the case is very simple: This very chateau was the first one in the late 70-ies to go China and educate people about Lafite, Bordeaux, about ten years before the next chateau’ from BDX came and did the same. The Chinese never forgot who paid their respect first and were first altogether.
***AND: CHINA IS PROUD OF CHINA! It is refreshing to see a people which is so proud of its heritage and its achievements in the distant and recent history.
Stay tuned - next week
